Narcotics dispenser



Sept. 14, 1965 J. M. CANTU ETAL NARCOTICS DISPENSER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed 001;. 15. 1962 INVENTORS J'O/l/V M. Cfl/VTU BY pzrzx A. PA /0?), .m. J W

ATTOk/VAFKS" p 14, 1965 J. M. CANTU ETAL NARCOTICS DISPENSER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Filed Oct. 15. 1962 5 5 may m TTR R a m wcp r I 4 .4 x JP 1. W W 72 a az a 3 24 a 6 u I U M 9 .WI a a a L w N. u 7 I w 4 m 3 4M M United States Patent 3,266,664 NARCDTICS DESPENSER John M. Cantu, Pleasant Ridge, and Peter A. Perry, in,

Beverly Hills, Mich, assignors to The Modern Controls Corporation, Center Line, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Filed (let. 15, W62, Ser. No. 230,456 7 Claims. (Cl. 221-82) This invention relates generally to improvements in narcotics dispensers, and more particularly to a novel and improved narcotic dispenser for controlling the dispensing and counting of narcotic tablets, pi ls, capsules or the like.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved dispenser for tablets, pills, capsules or the like which provides a means for handling and controlling the dispensing of narcotics with a high degree of accounting and reliability.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved dispenser for tablets, pills, capsules or the like which may be conveniently mounted in the pharmacy of a hospital, or at the nurses station, whereby narcotic pills, tablets or capsules may be discharged in a time saving manner and with a high degree of sanitation together with low initial cost of the same.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved tablet dispenser which is provided with an improved tablet magazine which may be pro-loaded and labeled for maximum accountability of the tablets. The dispenser of the present invention is cona novel and improved tablet magazine for a tablet dispenser which includes an upper disc having a plurality of tablet recesses on the bottom side thereof, a lower'disc mounted below said upper disc and provided with a tablet discharge opening, said discs being provided with a first releasable lock means for locking the discs together but to permit relative rotation of the discs, and a second releasable lock means for locking the discs against relative rotation.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved narcotics dispenser which is compact in construction, economical of manufacture and eflicient in operation.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts of the several views.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the lower and upper housings of the narcotics dispenser of the present invention with the upper housing being shown in the open position;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the lower housing of the narcotics dispenser of the present invention, showing the tablet magazine mounted in operative position in the lower housing, and with the upper housing removed;

FIG. 3 is an elevational sectional view of the dispenser structure illustrated in FIG. 2, taken substantially along the line 3-3 thereof, looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing the upper housing in a closed position on the lower housing;

FIG. 4 is an elevational sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG 2, taken substantially along the line 4-4 thereof, looking in the direction of the arrows, and with the upper housing mounted on the lower housing and shown in the closed position;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary elevational sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 2, taken substantially along the line 5-5 thereof, looking in the direction of the arrows, and with the upper housing mounted on the lower housing in a closed position;

FIG. 6 is an elevational sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 2, taken substantially along the line 66 thereof, looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing the upper housing mounted on the lower housing in the closed position;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the upper disc of the tablet magazine;

FIG. 8 is a bottom plan view of the upper disc structure illustrated in FIG. 9;

FIG. 9 is an elevational sectional View of the tablet magazine structure employed in the present invention, taken substantially along the line 9-9 of FIG. 10 and looking in the direction of the arrows and showing the magazine upper disc mounted on the magazine lower disc;

F G. 10 is a bottom plan view of the lower disc of the tablet magazine, taken substantially along the line 10-10 of FIG. 9 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and,

FIG. 11 is an elevational sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 9, taken along the line 1111 thereof and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the numeral 10 generally indicates a lower housing portion and the numeral 11 generally indicates an upper housing portion. The housing portions 10 and 11 comprise the housing or case of the narcotics dispenser of the present invention, and the housing portions 10 and 11 may be made from any suitable material as, for example, from a plastic material which is preferably non-transparent. The lower housing 10 is provided with the vertical rear wall 12 which is provided with a pair of mounting holes 13 and 14 as shown in FIG. 1. The lower housing 10 may be fixedly mounted on any suitable supporting means as, for example, the wall of a cabinet or the like, by means of screws passing through the holes 13 and 14 and being threadably mounted in the supporting means.

As shown in FIGS. 1 through 4, the lower housing 10 is provided with a stepped bottom wall construction which includes the central horizontal main portion 15 and the two side portions 1.6 and 17 which slope forwardly and downwardly. As viewed in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, the right side wall includes the lower vertical portion 18 which connects the bottom wall portions 15 and 17, and the upper curved wall portion 19 which extends upwardly from the bottom wall portion 17. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the left side wall also comprises the lower vertical portion 20 and the upper curved portion 21.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, the lower housing front wall is indicated by the numeral 22 and the front wall is provided with the central, vertically disposed, inwardly curved recess 23 which is provided with the upper substantially horizontal wall 24. The wall 24 is provided with the hole 25 through which the tablets are dispensed into any suitable container as, for example,a syringe which may be supported by the U-shaped wire support means 26. It will be understood that the lip of the syringe would rest on the top of the Wire support 26 so as to position the upper open end of the syringe beneath the tablet discharge hole 25. The lower housing 10 is illustrated as having all of the aforementioned walls integrally formed by any suitable molding process.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, a cylindrical tablet magazine support member 27 is integrally formed in the lower housing 16 in a central position. The cylindrical magazine support 27 is provided with a notch 28 for coaction with a portion of the tablet magazine, as more fully described hereinafter. The cylindrical support 27 may be provided with suitable integral vertical stiffening ribs as indicated by the numeral 29. The ribs 29 are integral with the bottom wall portion 15 and extend upwardly therefrom and extend between the rear wall 12 and the cylindrical support 27 in a diagonal direction. As shown in FIGS. 1 through 4, the lower housing is provided with the bearing posts 30, 31 and 32 which are adapted to support the periphery of the tablet magazine, as more fully described hereinafter.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the upper housing portion 11 includes the top wall 33 which is formed to a slight convex curvature. The upper housing 11 further includes the rear integral wall 34 and the integral side walls 35 and 36, and the front integral wall 37. The front wall 37 tapers downwardly and forwardly and is formed with a slight convex curve. As shown in FIG. 1, a recess 38 is formed in the upper housing front wall 37 and the lower end thereof is open as indicated by the numeral 39 to provide a sight hole for viewing the tablet numerals on the tablet magazine, as more fully described hereinafter.

As shown in FIGS. 1 through 6, the lower housing 16 is provided with a pair of integral upwardly extended hinge members 40 and 41 along the rear end thereof and at the rear corners thereof. The lower hinge members 46 and 41 extend upwardly into the upper housing portion 11 and are adapted to be seated against the mating upper hinge members 42 and 43, respectively, which are integrally formed on the inner sides of the upper housing walls 35 and 36. The hinge members 40 and 42 are operatively connected together by means of the rivet 44. The hinge members 41 and 43 are operatively connected by means of the rivet 45. The rivets 44 and 45 are fixed in the hinge members 42 and 43, respectively, and the inner ends of these rivets are rotatably mounted in suitable apertures in the hinge members 40 and 41.

The upper housing 11 is adapted to be swung automatically to the open position shown in FIG. 1 by means of the spring 47 which is a coiled spring and which has the lower end thereof fixedly mounted in a suitable aperture in the integral post 46 which is formed on the inside of the bottom wall portion 17. The lower end of the spring 47 is fixed in the post 46 and the upper end 49 of the spring 47 extends upwardly and through the hole 59 which is formed in the post 51. The post 51 is integrally formed with the upper wall 33 of the upper housing 11. As shown in FIG. 5, the upper end 49 of the spring 47 is slidably mounted through the hole 50, and exerts an upward bias on the upper housing portion 11.

As best seen in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, the tablet magazine includes an upper disc generally indicated by the numeral 52. The disc 52 is preferably made from a transparent plastic material. The upper disc 52 is formed with a downwardly, outwardly tapered periphery around the upper end thereof and this periphery is preferably coated with a white paint or the like. As shown in FIG. 7, the tapered periphery 53 is provided with a plurality of numerals which run from zero through twenty-five to indicate the number of tablets stored in the disc 52 in the circularly disposed recesses 64 formed on the lower side of the disc 52. As shown in FIG. 8, the tablet recesses 64 are numbered clockwise starting from the position marked by the numeral zero, and these positions correspond to the numerals on the upper side of the disc 52 as shown in FIG.

The disc 52 is provided with an annular recess 54 on the upper side thereof, and this recess is bounded by the outer wall indicated by the numeral 56 and by the inner wall indicated by the numeral 55. The recess 54 is bounded on the inner by the annular rib 57 which is spaced outwardly from the central hole 58 by means of the annular flat shoulder 59. As shown in FIG. 9, the central opening 58 is chamfered on the lower edge thereof as indicated by the numerals 60. An annular cover plate 61 is fixedly mounted on the annular rib 57 by any suitable means, as by a suitable adhesive, and the cover plate 61 is provided with the central opening 62. As shown in FIG. 7, a notch 63 is formed in the shoulder 59 and is radially disposed. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, the upper disc 52 is provided with a plurality of radially disposed circumferentially spaced apart ratchet or trigger teeth 65. The teeth 65 are disposed in the recess 54 against the outer wall 56. The teeth 65 are preferably formed integral with the disc 52. As shown in FIG. 8, the disc 52 is provided with a circular cam groove on the lower side thereof. outwardly of the tablet storage recesses 64. The cam groove is indicated by the numeral 66 and the starting point is disposed adjacent the tablet recess number one and the beginning end of the cam groove is indicated by the number 67 and is enlarged and is disposed opposite the position marked zero on the tapered periphery 53.

As shown in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11, the tablet magazine further includes the lower disc generally indicated by the numeral 68. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, an arcuate cam 69 is integrally formed on the upper side of the disc 68, and this cam 69 is adapted to be slidably mounted in the cam groove 66 which is formed on the lower side of the upper disc 52. The function of the cam 69 and cam groove 66 will be more fully described hereinafter. The lower disc 68 is provided with the tablet dispensing hole 70 which is located so that it will .be aligned with the tablet recesses 64 when the discs 52 and 68 are rotated relative to each other, as more fully described herein after. As shown in FIG. 9, an annular rib 71 is integrally formed on the upper side of the lower disc 68 and is adapted to be received in the annular recess on the lower side of the upper disc 52 which is formed by the tablet pockets 64. The tablet pockets 64 extend inwardly from the inner surface of this recess as indicated by the numeral 72 in FIG. 9. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the lower disc 68 is adapted to be releasably locked to the upper disc 52 in a manner to permit rotational movement therebetween by means of the integrally formed, centrally disposed locking posts 73 and 74. As shown in FIG. 9, the upper ends of the locking posts 73 and 74 are provided with a horizontally disposed lip or flange which is adapted to engage the shoulder 59 of the upper disc 52 and be in sliding engagement therewithto permit the discs to be rotated relative to each other. The locking posts 73 and 74 may be sprung radially inwardly to permit the lips or flanges thereon to be removed from the shoulder 59 and be withdrawn through the central aperture 58- formed in the upper discs 52. The cover plate 61 is a safety plate which prevents tampering with the magazine when it is loaded with tablets to prevent separating of the discs to remove the tablets from the recesses 64. The locking posts 73 and 74 may only be sprung inwardly to detach the lower disc from the upper disc by means of a special tool.

As shown in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11, the discs 52 and 68 are locked against rotation by means of the locking tongue 75 which is integrally for-med with the disc 68. The tongue 75 is separated from the main body of the disc 68 by means of the inverted U-shaped groove 76 whereby the tongue 75 may be flexed upwardly and downwardly about the one end thereof which is fixed to the disc 68. Integrally formed on the tongue 75 adjacent its fixed end thereof is the upwardly extended lock key '77 which is normally engaged in the notch 63 which is formed in the disc 52. key 77 is disposed in the notch 63 the discs 52. and 68 may not be rotated. When the upper housing portion Ill is moved to the closed position, the centrally disposed pointed blade 78 is adapted to engage the free end of the locking tongue 75 and move it downwardly as shown in FIG. 6 so as to move the lock key 77 out of the notch 63. As shown in FIG. 1, the blade 78 is integrally formed on the inner side of the upper housing wall 33 and extends vertically downwardly into the lower housing 10 when the upper housing 11 is moved to the closed position shown in FIG. 6. The blade 78 is provided with the longitudinally disposed stiffener plate 79.

It will be seen that when the will be understood that the magazine may be marked with a seal to show which type of tablet is contained in a loaded magazine. The seal would be mounted over the opening 62 on the cover plate 61. Accordingly, when the pointed unlocking blade 78 is moved downwardly into engagement with the tablet magazine, the blade 78 will puncture the seal.

As shown in FIGS. 6, and 11, the lower disc 68 is provided with the centrally disposed annular rib 81 around which is formed the annular bearing surface 80. When a loaded tablet magazine as shown in FIG. 9 is loaded into the lower housing, the annular wall 81 is disposed within the annular support 27 in the lower housing. As shown in FIG. 6, the upper end of the annular support 27 engages the annular bearing surface 80 on the lower disc. The lower surface 82 of the lower disc 68 also is supported by the bearing posts 30, 31 and 32.

The tablet magazine is loaded into the lower housing 10 by means of the following structure. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 10, the lower disc 68 is provided With the circumferentially spaced apart radially outwardly extended tabs 85 and 86 which are adapted to be seated under the locking .fianges or lips on the upper ends of the lock posts 83 and 84, respectively, which are disposed in the lower housing 10 along the front side thereof, and at the corners thereof. The tabs are shown in FIG. 2 in the locked position. However, when first disposing the tablet magazine in the lower housing it is turned counter-clockwise from the position shown in FIG. 2 to same relative to the lower housing 10. When the housing 11 is closed the two locking posts 88 and 89, which are integral with the upper housing, flex outwardly and over the tabs 85 and 86 and then they flex backwardly inwardly and the flanges or lips on the lower ends thereof engage the lower faces of the tabs 85 and 86 to lock the lower housing and the upper housing together until all of the twenty-five tablets in the magazine are dispensed.

The tablets are dispensed in the following manner from the magazine. The dispenser is provided with a plunger mechanism which engages the ratchet teeth and rotates the upper disc 52 a distance sufiicient to rotate one of the tablet recesses 64 past the discharge hole in the lower disc 68 to permit a tablet to drop out of the dispenser through the hole 25. The disc 52 is pre vented from backward rotation after the plunger mechanism has functioned by means of a detent spring which has one end 90 adapted to engage the ratchet teeth 65, as shown in FIG. 3, and the other end 91 fixed to the posts 92 and 93 on the inner side of the housing wall 33.

The plunger mechanism is illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, and comprises the finger button 94 which is integral with the plunger body 95 and which is slidably mounted through a hole in the housing front wall 37. The plunger body 95 is slidably mounted in the guide means 96 which is formed on the inside of the housing top wall 33. The spring 97 has the front end thereof engaged with the inner end of the plunger body 95 to bias the plunger body normally outwardly. The other end of the spring 97 is connected or fixed to the integral post 98 on the wall 33 of the upper housing. Integrally formed on the front end of the plunger body 95 is the trigger 101 which is provided with the ratchet engaging leg 102. The trigger 101 is flexible and is adapted to ride back over the next tooth to be engaged when the spring 97 moves 6 the plunger body 95 back to the position shown in FIG. 4. The plunger body 95 is provided with the two spaced apart stops 99 and 100.

After twenty-five movements of the plunger button 94 the upper disc will be ready for an additional unlocking step. A further depressing of the button 94 will move the upper disc so as to bring the end 103, FIG. 8, of the groove 66 into engagement with the cam 69 whereby the lower disc 68 is picked up and carried by the upper disc 52 counter-clockwise, as viewed in FIG. 2, to move the tabs and 86 out from under the locking posts 83, 84, 88 and 89, and the spring 47 will then move the upper housing 11 to the open position shown in FIG. 1. The dispenser is then ready to have the empty tablet magazine unloaded and to be provided with the re-loaded tablet magazine. It will be understood that the term tablet in the following claims is used to mean pills, capsules or the like.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

What we claim is:

1. A tablet dispenser, comprising: a lower housing;

an upper housing hingedly connected to said lower housing; a tablet magazine mounted in said lower housing; said tablet magazine including a first disc having a plu rality of annularly disposed recesses on the lower side thereof for storing tablets; said tablet magazine further including a second disc having a fiat upper surface on which the first disc is mounted; means for retaining said first disc and said second disc in engagement with each other and to permit relative rotation of the first disc over the second disc; said lower housing being provided with a discharge opening for discharging tablets; said second disc being provided with a discharge opening for discharging tablets from said recesses in said first disc when it is rotated over said second disc; the discharge opening in said second disc being aligned with the discharge opening in said lower housing; means for rotating said first disc; and, means for locking said upper housing in a closed position on said lower housing.

2. A tablet dispenser as defined in claim 1 wherein: said means for retaining said first disc and said second disc in relative rotative engagement comprises a pair of flexible locking posts extended into locking engagement with the first disc with the locking posts being integral with said first disc.

3. A tablet dispenser as defined in claim 1 wherein: said means for locking the upper housing on the lower housing comprises a pair of locking posts on the lower housing and a pair of locking posts on the upper housing with locking tabs on said first disc for retaining said locking posts in locked relationship to each other.

4. A tablet dispenser as defined in claim 1 wherein: said discs are provided with means for releasably locking the same against relative rotation comprising a flexible tongue on the second disc having a lock key thereon adapted to be seated within a recess formed in said first disc to lock the discs together, and, said tongue being adapted to be flexed downwardly to withdraw the key from said recess in said first disc to permit relative rotation of said discs.

5. A tablet magazine for a tablet dispenser, comprising: an upper disc having a plurality of tablet recesses on the bottom side thereof; a lower disc mounted below said upper disc and engaging the lower surface of said upper disc to retain tablets in said recesses; said lower disc being provided with a discharge opening through which the tablets in said recesses may be discharged in a step-by-step manner; said discs being provided with a first releasable lock means for locking the discs together but permitting relative rotation of the discs; and, said discs being provided with a second releasable lock means for locking the discs against relative rotation.

6. A tablet magazine for a tablet dispenser, comprising: an upper disc having a plurality of tablet recesses on the bottom side thereof; a lower disc mounted below said upper disc and engaging the lower surface of said upper disc to retain tablets in said recesses; said lower disc being provided with a discharge opening through which the tablets in said recesses may be discharged in a step-by-step manner; said discs being provided with a first releasable lock means for locking the discs together but permitting relative rotation of the discs; said discs being provided With a second releasable lock means for locking the discs against relative rotation; and, said first releasable lock means including a pair of flexible locking posts mounted on said lower disc and extended upwardly into locking engagement with said upper disc.

7. A tablet magazine for a tablet dispenser, comprising: an upper disc having a plurality of tablet recesses on the bottom side thereof; a lower disc mounted below said upper disc and engaging the lower surface of said upper disc to retain tablets in said recesses; said lower disc being provided with a discharge opening through which the tablet in said recesses may be discharged in a step-by-step manner; said discs being provided with a first releasable lock means for locking the. discs together but. permitting relative rotation of the discs; said discs being providedwith a second releasable lock means for lockingthe discs against relative rotation; said first releasable lock means including a pair of flexible locking posts mounted on saidlower disc and extended upwardly into locking engagement with said upper disc; said second releasablelock means including a flexible tongue on said lower disc having a lock key thereon adapted to be seated within a recess formed insaid upper disc to lock the discs together; and, said tongue being adapted to be flexed downwardly to withdraw said key from said recess in said upperdisc to permit relative rotation of said discs.-

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 542,333 7/95 Dickerson et al 221-82 X 737,464 8/03 Pearson 221---82 X 1,680,130 8/28 Conner 221--82 X 2,032,948 3/36 Milone 22l80 2,652,916 9/53 Mason 221265 X LOUIS J. DEMBO, Primary Examiner. 

1. A TABLET DISPENSET, COMPRISING: A LOWER HOUSING; AN UPPER HOUSING HINGEDLY CONNECTED TO SAID LOWER HOUSING; A TABLET MAGAZINE MOUNTED IN SAID LOWER HOUSING; SAID TABLET MAGAZINE INCLUDING A FIRST DISC HAVING A PLURALITY OF ANNULARLY DISPOSED RECESSES ON THE LOWER SIDE THEREOF FOR STORING TABLETS; SAID TABLET MAGAZINE FURTHER INCLUDING A SECOND DISC HAVING A FLAT UPPER SURFACE ON WHICH THE FIRST DISC IS MOUNTED; MEANS FOR RETAININ SAID FIRST DISC AND SAID SECOND DISC IN ENGAGEMENT WITH EACH OTHER AND TO PERMIT RELATIVE ROTATION OF THE FIRST DISC OVER THE SECOND DISC; SAID LOWER HOUSING BEING PROVIDED WITH A DISCHARGING OPENING FOR DISCHARGING TABLETS; SAID SECOND DISC BEING PROVIDED WITH A DISCHARGE OPENING FOR DISCHARGING TABLETS FROM SAID RECESSES IN SAID FIRST DISC WHEN IT IS ROTATED OVER SAID SECOND DISC; THE DISCHARGE OPENING IN SAID SECOND DISC BEING ALIGNED WITH THE DISCHARGE OPENING IN SAID LOWER HOUSING; MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID FIRST DISC; AND, MEANS FOR LOCKING SAID UPPER HOUSING IN A CLOSED POSITION ON SAID LOWER HOUSING. 